UUNEWS
in the congregations

Town founded by Unitarians marks 150th

The Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, Kans., celebrated 150 years of Unitarianism in Kansas as part of the town's sesquicentennial in September. The city was founded in 1854 by Unitarians and others sent to Kansas by the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society to ensure that Kansas would not become a slave state.

To celebrate the sesquicentennial, members of the fellowship built a
scale model of the original building and used it on a float in the city's
sesquicentennial parade. Other anniversary events included a symposium,
and the rededication of the original 1,500-pound bell from the First Unitarian
Church. The bell was donated to the local high school in the 1890s. The
Lawrence High School class of 2004 raised more than $2,000 to have it
refurbished.

New solar panels electrify church

The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel,
Calif., is banking on sunshine for its electricity. The church installed
180 solar energy panels on its property in September 2004 and will become
100 percent independent of fossil fuel within the year. The panels are
installed on a swath of land under power lines used by the Pacific Gas
and Electric Company.

The project, which cost $250,000, evolved as part of a larger plan to
double the size of the church's physical plant. The congregation wanted
to build in a sustainable manner and was working toward certification
as a "green sanctuary" by the Seventh Principle Project. Member
Greg Wolfson saw an opportunity both to fulfill the congregation's desire
to build according to green principles and to take advantage of a $110,000
rebate offered by the California Energy Commission for construction of
a renewable energy source. Since the rebate offer was only good for nine
months, the congregation needed to move swiftly.

Wolfson ordered the panels, and congregational work parties spent two months preparing the site by clearing brush and setting up frames. When the panels arrived, congregants installed them in an afternoon at an event Wolfson called a "solar raising."

In addition to ease of installation and maintenance, the panels promise
a solid financial return. According to Wolfson, the congregation can currently
expect to save about $5,000 a year in electricity bills, and will save
even more when the church's expansion has been completed.